Kurozumi Orochi was immersed in his fear of the prophecy.
He clasped his hands tightly together in unease, a gloom lingering in his heart that would not dissipate.
"No! The Kozuki retainers must be hiding in Wano Country!" Receiving no reply, Orochi gritted his teeth and made a decision, speaking resolutely to Kaido, "Kaido, lend me some more troops. I want to thoroughly search for their tracks!"
Kaido glanced at him, continuing to ignore him, deep in thought about how to implement his plan.
After enduring Orochi's noise for a moment, he tried to speak to him calmly.
"Orochi."
"The times have changed."
"I need Wano Country to remain stable to bring me a steady stream of weapons and wealth."
"Hah?" Orochi replied, confused. "Isn't that what I am doing right now? I'm talking about the Kozuki..."
"You don't understand." Kaido sighed, realizing that this piece of trash's brain was filled only with fear of the Kozuki.
His right hand slowly touched the Kanabo leaning beside him.
The cold and rough texture made this body feel more alive; it seemed he was born to hold it.
Gripping it tightly, a familiar sensation traveled from his body straight to his soul, as if it were an extension of his body, allowing him to use it perfectly, like an arm directing a finger.
"What are you doing?" Kurozumi Orochi's square eyebrows connected into a straight line.
What on earth?
Hey! Wait...
"What are you doing with that weapon?!" Out of the corner of his eye, Orochi saw the Kanabo, mostly blocked by Kaido's body, being lifted.
Kaido stood up. His height of over seven meters brought immense pressure.
Facing Orochi directly, he blocked the light from behind, making his face appear extremely gloomy.
The Kanabo, taller and thicker than Orochi's entire body, was pitch black; the sharp spikes were so dark they seemed to absorb light.
"There is no room for two tigers on one mountain. You sitting in the position of Shogun is the greatest instability to me!"
"Submit to me! Orochi!"
"What do you mean? Wano Country is my territory! Do you want to start a war?!" Orochi glared, shouting in anger.
"Hopeless idiot."
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
The massive black club was wrapped in purple lightning. With a crackling sound, it swung in a full arc from top to bottom.
The biting gale released powerful air pressure, sweeping through everything in the room like a hurricane passing through.
Kaido had held back most of his strength for this strike.
Watching the iron club approach, Kurozumi Orochi's pupils contracted to the size of pinholes. His face held an expression of disbelief; he never expected Kaido to actually strike with lethal intent.
In just an instant, the iron club hit Orochi's head.
Bang!!
Orochi's head, which was as large as his body, exploded instantly. Like a bursting watermelon, juices flew everywhere.
Red and white matter splattered all over the room—the ceiling, the floor, and even onto Kaido's body.
A large patch of blood-red graffiti was left on the entire wall behind him, as if splashed with red paint.
Orochi's hunched and shriveled body fell straight down.
For a moment, the thick scent of blood filled the entire room.
Outside the door.
The two Oniwabanshu ninjas responsible for guarding exchanged horrified glances, their mouths gaping wide.
They each swallowed a mouthful of saliva to hide the shock in their eyes.
After a quick exchange of glances, they nodded to each other and retreated rapidly with tacit understanding.
Only the leader of the Oniwabanshu, Fukurokuju, could handle this emergency!
Kaido stood quietly in place. The head of the Kanabo pointed downwards, dripping blood incessantly, his body also stained with some filth.
"Orochi, answer me. Dead? Or alive?" He spoke to Orochi's corpse as if hallucinating.
Orochi thought Kaido was unaware of his ability and attempted to escape death by playing dead.
But he didn't know that this Kaido had the advantage of memories.
"Silence is consent to death, Orochi!"
Kaido raised the Kanabo again, pretending to swing at Orochi's corpse.
In the blink of an eye, a new head drilled out from Orochi's severed neck like a snake.
Looking at the iron club striking again with eyes splitting open in rage, he was scared out of his wits, only managing to shout a few words.
"Wait! I surren—"
Kaido's Observation Haki had long foreseen the future.
The target of the iron club was never the body; the powerful strike smashed onto Orochi's head once again.
Flesh and blood exploded again.
This time he didn't dare play dead anymore. A head grew out the moment he fell.
But while death could be avoided, the sensory experience could not. The pain of having his head exploded twice made him roll on the ground non-stop, clutching his head and screaming.
"It hurts!! It hurts! It hurts me to death!!"
"It hurts!!!"
"..."
After a while, the pain subsided. Orochi sat paralyzed on the ground, his chest heaving with rapid breaths. His face retained the look of fear and the trance of surviving a catastrophe after dying twice.
He was terrified by Kaido's decisiveness and intimidation, afraid of taking another hit.
Seeing a hint of impatience in Kaido, he trembled and hurriedly kowtowed to Kaido with his body flat on the ground.
"Wait!! I submit! Don't kill me again!!"
"I surrender!!! I submit!!"
"Don't kill me!"
"Don't kill me..."
Gradually, he remembered the scenes of being hunted by the entire Wano Country when he was a child.
He recalled the pathetic appearance of kneeling and begging for mercy from the samurai chasing him, hugging their thighs with snot and tears streaming down his face, wailing loudly.
The unbearable pain in his memories also made his head split with pain, losing his reason and dignity.
"You have to die to know pain." Kaido sneered. Seeing Orochi now shaking with fear even as Kaido shook the excess blood off the Kanabo, he completely lost interest in him and said, "I'm taking the position of Shogun of Wano."
If Orochi could have maintained his initial courage to the end, perhaps Kaido would have looked at him differently; sparing his life and entrusting him with heavy responsibilities could have been considered.
Now, Orochi's only use was to live well, waiting for the Devil Fruit in his body to be safely extracted.
Orochi opened his mouth, but it felt like an iron walnut was stuck in his throat, grinding painfully. He could only ask hoarsely, "Then what about... me?"
"You have a good fruit that can temporarily save your life. The three All-Stars, pick one?"
Kurozumi Orochi's mind felt like it was cracking open.
The double blow to his spirit and body left his brain muddled and at a loss.
He could only blurt out a name by instinct.
"..."
"Jack."
That simpleton, the Ship-Cutter King? He picked the hardest one to survive under.
"Then go find him in Kuri. I will remind him."
Kaido found a corner not polluted by the filth, sat down leaning back, and waved his hand at Orochi.
Orochi looked up and saw the gesture, but his brain seemed to no longer be functioning; it was blank.
It wasn't until Kaido barked "Get out" that he realized he should leave. He hurriedly got up, his limbs unsteady and his gait strange, walking like a walking corpse.
Holding onto the wall, he felt his way to the door and stumbled out with his head buried low.
Suddenly, he bumped into someone. He saw a pair of feet.
Looking up, he saw the person he trusted most, surrounded by ninjas. His eyes brightened slightly, but then dimmed again as he said hoarsely:
"Fukurokuju..."
"Lord Orochi, I heard everything just now."
"..."
"Listen to a word from your subject. Kaido values the strength of his subordinates immensely. If you possess power like the Tobi Roppo or even the All-Stars, perhaps you can ask for the position of Shogun back."
"But I have never..."
"You are the last descendant of the Kurozumi clan. How you choose is for you to judge."
"Your subject will wait for your return. Please take care."
After speaking, he left Kurozumi Orochi standing there alone, looking blankly at the sky.
Can I really become stronger?
Behind him, Fukurokuju and the group of ninjas filed into the room where Kaido was.
As if they had prepared long ago, they shouted loudly in unison:
"Welcome, Shogun Kaido-sama!!"
Orochi: ...
He was tired; let it be destroyed.
Orochi left in solitude.
He did not hear the conversation inside the room.
Kaido was telling Fukurokuju the details of the execution of the "Kozuki Clan" scheduled for tomorrow.